EDITORIAL 



The Objectives of Peace 



THE solemn pride of Americans who have given up 

 much in the cause of victory is equalled by the deep 

 conviction that the objectives for which we fought re- 

 main to challenge our ability and strength. That our war 

 dead shall not have made a futile sacrifice, that the suffer- 

 ing and heartache of millions, the toil of young and old, 

 and the lavish expenditure of national resources shall not 

 go for naught, we must dedicate ourselves to the winning 

 of the peace. 



Farm people have literally given of their all in this 

 war. The gold stars on service flags of Farm Bureaus 

 throughout Illinois and in the farm homes of America bear 

 silent testimony to the devotion of our sons and daughters. 

 May their loved ones, who are bowed in grief today, be 

 comforted by the thought that they will live forever in our 

 hearts, young, glorious and immortal. Their sacrifices 

 overshadow all else. . .the endless toil in the fields, the 

 splendid accomplishment of producing food and fiber that 

 helped win the war and that will reduce the suffering of 

 stricken peoples in the awful aftermath of conflict, the cour- 

 age and determination with which farm people everywhere 

 faced up to the stern demands of global war. Yet these, 

 too, will be remembered with solemn satisfaction, as vital 

 contributions to total victory. No group did more. Farm 

 people \\ould have scorned to do less in the great national 

 effort. 



And now victory — final and complete, has come. 

 What will we do with it, to justify in small measure the 

 sacrifice of our sons and daughters.? Will the peace we 

 now enjoy prove but another Armistice, the prelude to an 

 all-destroying Third World War.' Will the objectives for 

 which America and her Allies fought — democracy, re- 

 ligious and political liberty — prove only sham and hypoc- 

 risy.' Then indeed we shall have destroyed civilization 

 as surely as if we had dropped a million atomic bombs. 



It is our task to win the peace. 



Farmers, who have learned so much in working co- 

 operatively with their neighbors, feel that nations, too, can 

 learn to work together in the ways of peace. Therein lies 

 the last, best hope of human kind. It was with this thought 

 that the leading farm organizations proclaimed their sup- 

 port of the United Nations Charter. It was realized that 

 the Qiarter did not represent perfection, but it marked 

 one step forward toward international cooperation. 



Farmers know, too, that it will take cooperation to 

 win the peace at home. They realize that if our domestic 

 economy is to prosper it will require the proper recogni- 

 tion of the interrelationship of all groups, business, labor 

 and agriculture. Farmers stand willing to work with these 

 groups to achieve a common goal — national well being. 



If agriculture is to make its full contribution, we 

 must have national policies which will maintain farm in- 

 come at a stable and reasonable level and thus bring about 

 the largest possible production and consumption of the 

 products of both agriculture and industry. 



To maintain this stable farm income, it will be neces- 

 sary to have overall national policies whereby government 

 in cooperation with farmers sees to it that surplus reserves 



of basic soil crops are not permitted to unduly depress 

 market prices. 



With the assurance of sustained agricultural prices 

 and income, farmers' demands for the products of industry 

 will reach a volume that will surprise the nation. At least 

 for many years, there is practically no limit, except the 

 limitations of purchasing power, on the volume of manu- 

 factured commodities farmers will require and will pur- 

 chase for the improvement of farms and farm homes. 



There is also another reason for maintaining stable 

 farm income. The value placed on agricultural commod- 

 ities determines to a considerable extent the value of our 

 new raw wealth and the level of our national income. 



Only through the maintenance of a high national in- 

 come can a tax structure be erected, sufficiently productive 

 to meet the obligations of the government; only by main- 

 taining such a tax structure can the solvency and integrity 

 of our government be assured; and only through maintain- 

 ing such solvency and integrity can real democracy be 

 made to work. 



Democracy and liberty are more than catchwords to 

 farm people: they are the very breath of life to them. As 

 our nation moves forward in reconversion, farmers will ex- 

 ercise unceasing vigilance to keep intact the freedom 

 handed down to us by our forefathers. 



The ancient liberties Which were at stake in World 

 War II are very real to farm people. Freedom of speech, 

 and assembly, freedom of worship — these are ingrained 

 in the very soul of America, and nowhere more cherished 

 than among rural folk. 



We must not fail. . .this time. . .to win the peace. 

 Farm people proved and tested in the crucible of war, join 

 with all other Americans in the great task of building a 

 better, finer world. . .a world of peace, of understanding, 

 of cooperation, and above all, a world of freedom. 



We All Make Mistakes [ 



THIS, believe it or not, happened in an Illinois county 

 in 1945: 

 Farmers, members of Farm Bureau, purchased a feed 

 mill which had been operated as a private enterprise, and 

 set up a cooperative. A county official was much per- 

 turbed, because he ""didn't like to see the county lose the 

 property taxes which had been paid in the past," and of 

 course (he thought) the cooperative would ask for tax 

 exemption. "Farm cooperatives don't pay taxes," he wor- 

 ried. 



Fortunately, he soon met a person who said, "Go right 

 on extending the taxes as you have in the past. Our farm- 

 er cooperatives pay property taxes just like anyone else." 



The county official was both relieved and pleased. 



Doesn't it beat all how some ideas get around? 



Is it necessary to say again that our local farm co- 

 operatives are not tax-exempt, either as to local or state 

 taxes, and only are their annual earnings exempt to the 

 extent that such earnings are returned to the members 

 where they become taxable? Our local farm cooperatives 

 recognize and willingly assume every legal tax obligation. 



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L A. A. RECORD 



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